city of edinburgh tour

THE 10 BEST Edinburgh Tours & Excursions

Edinburgh tours.

• Cultural Tours
• Historical & Heritage Tours
• Multi-day Tours
• Up to 1 hour
• 1 to 4 hours
• 4 hours to 1 day
• 5.0 of 5 bubbles
• 4.0 of 5 bubbles & up
• 3.0 of 5 bubbles & up
• 2.0 of 5 bubbles & up
• Chinese (Traditional)
• Chinese (Simplified)
• Likely to Sell Out
• Special Offers
• The ranking of tours, activities, and experiences available on Tripadvisor is determined by several factors including the revenue generated by Tripadvisor from these bookings, the frequency of user clicks, and the volume and quality of customer reviews. Occasionally, newly listed offerings may be prioritized and appear higher in the list. The specific placement of these new listings may vary.

1. Loch Ness, Scottish Highlands, Glencoe and Pitlochry Tour

2. Underground Vaults Walking Tour in Edinburgh Old Town

3. Loch Ness and Highlands Day Tour Including Cruise from Edinburgh

4. Edinburgh Castle: Guided Walking Tour with Entry Ticket

5. Loch Ness and the Scottish Highlands Day Tour from Edinburgh

6. Edinburgh Food & Drink Tour with Eat Walk Tours

7. The World Famous Underground Ghost Tour

8. City Sightseeing Edinburgh Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour

9. Edinburgh Magic Ticket entry at The Waldorf Astoria

10. Isle of Skye, Highlands and Loch Ness 3-Day Tour from Edinburgh

11. Glenfinnan Viaduct, Glencoe and Fort William Tour from Edinburgh

12. Loch Lomond, Kelpies & Stirling Castle Tour Including Admission

13. Skip-the-Line Edinburgh Castle Walking Tour

14. Guided Edinburgh Private Walking Tour

15. St Andrews & the Fishing Villages of Fife Small-Group Day Tour from Edinburgh

16. Edinburgh Darkside Walking Tour: Mysteries, Murder and Legends

17. Royal Edinburgh Ticket - Hop-On Hop-Off and Attraction Admissions

18. Royal Mile Guided Walking Tour in Edinburgh

19. Original Harry Potter Locations Tour in Edinburgh

20. Scottish Highlands, Loch Ness and Glencoe Day Trip from Edinburgh

21. 3-Day Isle of Skye Inverness Highlands and Glenfinnan Viaduct Tour from Edinburgh

22. Outlander Locations Tour Including Admissions from Edinburgh

23. Enchanted Professional Private Photoshoot Tour in Edinburgh

24. Rosslyn Chapel, Dunfermline Abbey and Stirling Castle Day Tour

25. Edinburgh Walking Food Tour With Secret Food Tours

26. Edinburgh Castle Guided Walking Tour in English

27. Old Town Walking Tour History and Tales in Edinburgh

28. Full-Day Trip: Loch Ness, Glencoe & The Highlands from Edinburgh

29. Edinburgh Castle Guided Tour - Tickets Included

30. 3-Day Isle of Skye and Scottish Highlands Small-Group Tour from Edinburgh

What travelers are saying.

• Underground Walking Tour in Edinburgh
• The World Famous Underground Ghost Tour
• Edinburgh Castle: Guided Walking Tour with Entry Ticket
• Loch Ness, Scottish Highlands, Glencoe & Pitlochry Tour from Edinburgh
• City Sightseeing Edinburgh Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour
• The Potter Trail
• The Mountebank Comedy Tour of Edinburgh
• See Your City
• Little Fish Tours
• Cadies & Witchery Tours
• Viajar Por Escocia Tours en Espanol
• Edinburgh Guided Tour
• Soul of Scotland Tours
• Edinburgh Expert Walking Tours
• Iconic Tours
• Silent Adventures
• Mercat Tours
• Auld Reekie Tours
• Little Scottish Treasures
• Heartland Travel - Day Tours
• Edinburgh Run Tours

DYNAMIC EARTH

The royal mile, palace of holyroodhouse, the edinburgh dungeon, views of edinburgh, johnnie walker princes street, the national museum of scotland, edinburgh castle, greyfriars bobby.

Choose Your Ticket

24 March 2024 – 29 June 2024 0851 - 1751 Every 12 Minutes

30 June 2024 – 7 September 2024 0850 - 1800 Every 10 Minutes

8 September 2024 – 2 November 2024 0851 - 1751 Every 12 Minutes

3 November 2024 – 5 April 2025 0910 - 11540 Every 30 Minutes

Edinburgh Bus Tours operates all year round daily

The full tour lasts around 70 minutes. Please note timetables are subject to change.

Route Map of The Edinburgh Tour

You can join this tour at any bus stop, and hop-on hop-off for the duration of your ticket.

LIVE TOUR TIMES

Download the Edinburgh Bus Tours App for live bus times, information on discounts and attractions. Available free for iPhone and Android

Get directions to Waterloo Place

The Edinburgh Tour features a live guide in English.

Tour Description

Explore Edinburgh's city centre with one of our tour guides. Take in the spectacular buildings including Edinburgh Castle, the Scottish Parliament and the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Accessibility

All of our tour buses have ramped access.

A Class 2 mobility scooter is welcome on board if a wheelchair accessible space is available. Please note that legally wheelchair users have priority over the use of these spaces. Alternatively, Mobility Scooters can be folded and stored as luggage.

Dogs, including assistance dogs, are welcome on all of our tour buses.

Looking for more? Try our other tours...

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Edinburgh Guided Tour

Private & group walking tours of edinburgh, scotland.

We now offer  virtual tours of Edinburgh  where our guide can link up to the client, using zoom or similar technology, whilst the guide walks and/or drives around the city giving a commentary as he/she does so. We have now done this, very successfully, for  educational establishments ,  companies  and  private individuals . If you wish to book a  virtual tour , or simply wish to know more, please contact us by using our contact form on our contact page , saying what you have in mind. 

• Most Popular!
• Hour Glass 3 Hours
• Tag Walking Tour

Group Walking Tour – Edinburgh

The tour focuses on the historical, cultural, and architectural heritage of Edinburgh.

• Hour Glass 3.5 or 7 Hours

Private Edinburgh Walking Tour

Customisable tours to suit your taste. Our private tours allow your group to have an educated guide all to yourselves.

Our Edinburgh Walking Tours

Start your holiday with us and let us give you inside knowledge on what to see, where to go, and things to do.

The Edinburgh walking tours focus on the historical, cultural, and architectural heritage of Edinburgh. Most of the major historical sites of interest are covered, including the world-famous Royal Mile in the Old Town.

On our Group Walking Tours , we have an absolute maximum of 12 walkers to ensure you have a first-class experience. We feel strongly that tours of 30, 40 or 50 more, just cannot give you the same experience.

And where better to start those walks than the Usher Hall, Scotland’s premier concert hall, donated to the city in 1896 by Andrew Usher.

Alternatively, our Private Walking Tours allow you to see even more landmarks and sights around Edinburgh both in the Old and New towns and can even be altered to suit your personal tastes/interests, as you will be the only walkers on the tour.

Our guides are very carefully hand-picked for their historical knowledge and they share our love of history and the city.

Edinburgh Guided Tour is currently ranked number 8 out of 470 Edinburgh tours on Tripadvisor; an exceptional performance for our small tour company.

And, even better, in 2019 Tripadvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Awards had us ranked at #5 in the world for cultural experiences!

You can book your tour with us with confidence. If your plans change, you can always cancel the booking and get a full refund (apart from cancellations made with less than 24 hours to go). 

Meet the Guides for our Edinburgh Guided Tours

Father and son team, Stuart and Richard Usher, started Edinburgh Guided Tour in 2012 with one clear vision; to provide an intimate walking tour of Edinburgh’s Old Town and Royal Mile that would enthuse their guests with its amazing history, its famous characters and its magnificently varied architecture.

Simply put, they want their guests to fall in love with Edinburgh!

Introducing Professor John W. Frank MD, CCFP, MSc, FRCPC, FCAHS, FFPH, FRSE, LLD: John has held a Personal Chair in Public Health Research and Policy in the Usher Institute at the University of Edinburgh from 2017 to 2021, at which time he retired. John was born in Canada but has lived and worked in Edinburgh for almost 20 years. He is a keen history buff and, despite his lofty academic attainment is a genuinely down to earth, warm and immensely affable tour guide.

Introducing Dr Alison Duncan: Alison is a Scottish history expert and a  professional historian and she can make the wonders of Scottish History come alive, in front of your eyes, as she takes you on tour.

Alison was recently interviewed by Channel Four’s Professor Alice Roberts as part of their episode covering Edinburgh, on the hit TV series, ‘Britain’s Most Historic Towns’. Please see the video on the right.

Introducing David Forsyth: David is a professional historian and, prior to his recent retirement after 25 years with the National Museum of Scotland, David acted as ‘Keeper’ (Manager) of the Museum’s Scottish History & Art & Design Departments. David will absolutely delight you with his stories about the city and its history.

David was recently featured on BBC’s ‘Art that made us’ and is shown here talking to the BBC’s Shaun Leane. Please see the video on the right.

Introducing Douglas Graham BD (Hons) MSt (Oxon.) DipPTP: After training for three years as a stage actor, Douglas read Theology at the universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Oxford. He is a keen student of History and a gifted storyteller. Douglas is a great addition to our team.

Introducing Craig Goodman BDS; Born in Scotland, Craig’s love of history began as a child and, as a voracious reader, this continued over the years. After qualifying as a Dentist, his professional life took him to England and to Germany. Eventually, the pull of home brought him back to Scotland and his proximity to Edinburgh ignited his passion, not just to further expand his knowledge of its history, but to unfold to others the historical riches this wonderful city holds.

How do you pronounce EDINBURGH? Here is Stuart Usher, our senior guide, on Scottish TV’s news programme, giving the definitive and CORRECT answer.

Deutschsprachiger Guide

Erleben Sie Edinburgh mit Ihrem deutschsprachigen Guide Craig Goodman: individuell, barrierefrei, mit flexiblen Treffpunkten.

Edinburgh Guided Tour Recognised Among Best In The World!

• Edinburgh Guided Tour are extremely proud to announce that our Guided Group Walking Tour has won the 2023 Viator Experience Award ! It rates us among the Top Twenty Viator attractions in all of Northern Europe .
• Viator is the world’s largest travel experiences marketplace with more than 300,000 bookable tours, activities, and excursions.
• Our Guided Group Walking Tour is our most popular, best-selling tour and it is the original experience that started us off over 10 years ago!
• This longstanding tour, focuses on the most important streets in Edinburgh and covers the most seminal people, buildings and events from Scotland’s history, and has grown from strength to strength and stood the test of time.

Other Plaudits for our Edinburgh Walking Tours

• In 2019, Edinburgh Guided Tour was ranked #5 in the World for Cultural Experiences in the 2019 TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Awards. An outstanding achievement!
• In 2016 we were selected as being one of Edinburgh’s Top Ten walks by the Guardian newspaper.
• In 2019 we were selected as one of Edinburgh’s 7 best walking tours by The Scotsman newspaper

The Ushers of Edinburgh

Stuart and Richard’s family roots are steeped in the history of both Edinburgh and Scotland. Stuart’s great-grandfather, Sir John Usher Bt., and his great-great uncle, Andrew Usher, introduced blended whisky to the world. In fact, Andrew in particular is widely acknowledged as the Father of the Blended Scotch Whisky Industry. From the Usher Hall by Edinburgh Castle and the Usher Institute at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, to the Usher created North British Distillery near the city centre, the Ushers are as intertwined with Scotland’s Capital City as bagpipes and tartan are with this outstandingly beautiful country.

Andrew Usher, father of the modern Scottish whisky industry

Our Walking Tours in Edinburgh were Rated "Excellent" by 94% of our Guests!

"Wide range of information on the history, architecture geology and people who contributed to Edinburgh. I learnt absolutely tons in 3 hours. Easy nuggets of knowledge delivered in a conversational style. Excellent introduction to the city from our guide Alison."

"Stuart was great and very knowledgeable! He also gave great advice on where to shop, eat, and drink."

"Starting at the appropriately named Usher Hall (you'll be told all about that), the tour progressed at a leisurely pace throughout the centre of Edinburgh. Stuart's knowledge is extensive, and his delivery humorous, leading to a hugely enjoyable and unique touring experience. Would highly recommend."

"Hugely informative and wonderful as an introductory tour in Edinburgh. Great trivia and historical information along with fantastic restaurant and shop recommendations. I would advise anyone to take this tour as it is a fantastic way to accommodate yourself to this city!"

"Lively and entertaining. Just the right mix of solid facts and amusing trivia. A fantastic introduction to the city."

"Alison was a brilliant tour guide. The tour was interesting, enjoyable and gave the right amount of information on the places we visited. We had a small group which was great so we could ask questions and get to know the other guests. Would highly recommend this tour."

"We walked privately with Stuart Usher through old & new town as well as the Royal Mile. It was absolutely excellent!! Not only was Stuart enjoyable company, but the tour provided a solid overview of the history of the mile and recommendations for food and shopping. Stuart pointed out fun details that I would've never otherwise noticed. It really gave me an appreciation for what this city has to offer. Plus, the information provided was the perfect balance between detailed v. general, old v. modern, etc. We loved it and will definitely use the service should we return to Edinburgh in the future!! THANK YOU STUART! :)"

"It was a joy to spend the day with Alison. She was passionate about the city and its history and struck the right balance between historical content and lay person human interest. She engages the group in a comfortable manner and flexes to meet the needs and interests of whoever she has with her that day. Highly recommend joining one of her tours."

"We loved Stuart Usher and what he brought to our understanding of Edinburgh and the special knowledge that he has of its history having been there for many generations. His family donated Usher Hall, a premiere music venue, to the city and that attests to the intimate viewpoint Mr. Usher has of not only the history but also the current condition of Edinburgh. We enjoyed his very insightful comments and also his recommendations of places to eat and go see. All in all, a very worthy experience and one that I would do early in your visit to the city to be able to go back to some of the places pointed out on the trip."

"Our guide for the tour of Edinburgh was incredible ... literally cannot write/speak enough of my praise. Guide was well versed in the history - woven in the details was a comprehensive reflection of the old compared with the new. Guide arranged the tour to our interests, using old maps and books for us to view ... a truly must guide to show you around the lovely city."

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Underground City of the Dead

The most haunted section of Edinburgh's legendary Underground City, inside the South Bridge Vaults. Home to the 'South Bridge Entity'

Descend into a section of Edinburgh’s legendary Underground City , where a population once lived in utter misery. Forgotten for centuries and only recently unsealed, this part of the vaults is known as Damnation Alley . With good reason. 

Black as Satan’s jammies, with a fascinating history to match, these dark chambers are stalked by a malevolent presence known as the South Bridge Entity . Its story is brought vividly to life in the book The Town Below The Ground: Edinburgh’s Legendary Underground City.  Signed copies are available after the tour.

The South Bridge Vaults. They’re darker than you think.

Our walks are written and researched by historical author and award winning novelist, J A Henderson – who has written books on the Underground City, The Mackenzie Poltergeist and Haunted Edinburgh. Our guides are a mixture of historians and professional entertainers, picked for their ability to improvise, entertain and make each tour unique and individual. 

 This is history brought to life through storytelling, rather than simply walking around and pointing out historical facts. As a result we have enjoyed years of rave media reviews. City of the Dead has been named “Britain’s Best Ghost Walk” by Scare.com, Yahoo! Travel and Virgin Media and is the only Scottish attraction to be short listed for the prestigious Screamie Awards (3 times!) and the Luxury Travel Awards. We also won Scare Tours ‘Best Ghost Tour’ award.

From £16 per adult

Departure days.

• W Wednesday

January — December

Contact details

• +44 (0131) 2259044
• View tour details
• [email protected]

Tour information

• Edinburgh - City Centre
• Medium Group (17-30)
• Small Group (1-16)
• Ghosts and Supernatural

Tour prices

From £16 Per Adult £14 Concession

Prices are subject to change depending on season

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Tour gallery

Tour company information

Black hart entertainment/city of the dead tours.

Researched and designed by best-selling historical author and award winning novelist J A Henderson, our walks combine the weirdest stories, wickedest humour and wildest history. And we have sole access to two of the word's most haunted locations - Damnation Alley in Edinburgh's legendary 'Underground City' and the Covenanter's Prison in Greyfriars Graveyard. This locked section is the lair of the infamous Mackenzie Poltergeist, the best documented supernatural case of all time and responsible for hundreds of 'attacks' on our participants. Zoiks!

Social Channels

Visit Black Hart Entertainment/City of the Dead Tours

Opening times

Office hours 10.00am - 10.00pm all year round (excluding Xmas Day and New Year's Eve). Tours run daytime and night time. Call 0131 225 9044 for times

Other tours from this company

City of the Dead Haunted Graveyard Tour

Departs: Edinburgh - City Centre, Edinburgh

This tour has sole access to the Covenanter's Prison, a locked section of Greyfr...

Price from:

£16pp

The Double Dead Tour

The worst of both possible worlds. A tour that goes into both the South Bridge...

£19pp

The content of many of our web listings is provided by third party operators and not VisitScotland. VisitScotland accepts no responsibility for (1) any error or misrepresentation contained in third party listings, and (2) the contents of any external links within web listings ((1) and (2) together hereinafter referred to as the "Content"). VisitScotland excludes all liability for loss or damage caused by any reliance placed on the Content. The Content is provided for your information only and is not endorsed by VisitScotland.

Edinburgh City Small-Group Bike Tour - Choice of E-Bike or Manual

• The Meadows
• Arthur's Seat
• Innocent Railway Tunnel
• Portobello Beach
• Leith Market
• Stockbridge Market
• Calton Hill
• National Galleries Scotland: Portrait

How to get there?

11 Rutland St

Select date and session

No booking fees

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Edinburgh Bus Tours launch new service connecting all major city attractions

Edinburgh Bus Tours launched its brand-new Regal Tour over the weekend.

Joining the existing live guide-led Edinburgh Tour, and CitySightseeing Edinburgh Tour on March 24, the Regal Tour brings to life the city’s royal connections, taking in key attractions such as the Palace of Holyroodhouse , The Royal Yacht Britannia, and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

The tour also takes in the bustling communities of Leith and Newhaven, where visitors can hop off to explore the independent shops, bars and restaurants lining Leith Shore and Newhaven Harbour.

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A multilingual audio commentary will also highlight all the key sights across the city.

Sarah Boyd, Managing Director of Edinburgh Bus Tours, said: “We’re delighted to welcome visitors on board our new Regal Tour, which adds another dimension to our already fantastic five- star tour portfolio. We hope visitors to the city will take advantage of our ‘hop-on-hop-off’ tours and take the opportunity to explore our stunning capital city from the top deck. All of our tickets include excellent added value offers from key partners across the capital.

“The launch of the Regal Tour marks an exciting moment in our long history in the city of Edinburgh and we look forward to welcoming visitors on board.

“With Edinburgh Bus Tours, visitors can be confident of quality, reliability and value for money”.

Neil Christison, Regional Director at VisitScotland, said: “It’s great to see Edinburgh Bus Tours investing in the visitor experience in the city and expanding their exceptional tour offering. Edinburgh is steeped in the history of Scotland’s monarchs, and recent events have shown there remains a keen fascination from visitors to our royal connections. Bus tours are a fantastic way to get around Edinburgh and help encourage visitors to explore beyond the city centre and into the bustling communities of Leith and Newhaven.”

Edinburgh Bus Tours’ visitors can enjoy exclusive discounts and offers to other city attractions, such as Lind and Lime Gin Distillery, Johnnie Walker Princes Street, and the Real Mary King’s Close. Customers can also buy tickets for the following attractions directly from its ticket sellers and drivers:

• Edinburgh Castle
• Edinburgh Zoo
• Edinburgh Dungeon
• Dynamic Earth